Cardboard-Confined Rammed Earth Towards Sustainable Construction
Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago
sciencedirect.comResearchstory
calmpositive
Debate
20/100
Sustainable ConstructionRammed EarthBuilding Materials
Key topics
Sustainable Construction
Rammed Earth
Building Materials
A research paper explores the use of cardboard-confined rammed earth as a sustainable construction method, sparking discussion on its potential environmental benefits and practical applications.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
1m
Peak period
3
0-1h
Avg / period
3
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 24, 2025 at 7:47 AM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 24, 2025 at 7:48 AM EDT
1m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
3 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM EDT
4 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45359032Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 1:11:24 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
> Gluing multiple panels together so that the corrugation alternates by 90 degrees every other panel makes them more sturdy, with wheat paste (1:5 mixture of flour and water) recommended as adhesive.
> Other tricks are folding over edges help to protect against damage, and integrating wood supports. Normal woodworking tools like saws can cut these glued-together panels. Adding the wheat paste to external surfaces can also protect against damage. By applying papier-mâché skills, a custom outside layer can be made that can be sanded and painted for making furniture, etc.
--
"Concrete draping" is like paper-mache with landscape fabric soaked in concrete; to make planters, sculptures, possibly decorative facades
From "Wikihouse: Open-Source Houses" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38932603#38935713 .. https://westurner.github.io/hnlog/#comment-38935713 re: https://www.wikihouse.cc/ :
> TIL about The Liberator: The world's first open source compressed earth brick press. https://www.opensourceecology.org/back-to-compressed-earth-b...
> A multiple-CEB unit that makes interlocking blocks that don't require mortar could build on work from this project.
What about cardboard and rammed earth blocks?
> Add'l notes on CEB, Algae, Sargassum, Hemp in the 2024 International and US Residential Building Code, LEGO-like Hempcrete block: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37693225
> FWIU Round homes fare best in windstorms: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37175721#37188180
Deltec homes builds round homes (optionally on stilts) out of hurricane-prone North Carolina that consistently outperform in storms.
> And curvy half walls one brick wide don't fall down:
> [CEB] "Crinkle crankle wall" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinkle_crankle_wall
> Some interlocking bricks don't require mortar.
Just BioFiber has developed LEGO-like Stacking, interlocking hempcrete blocks on structural forms, and an off-site forming and drying process.
> Are non-leaching bioplastic frames or filler comparatively economical for interlocking CEB?
InventWood has a "superwood" densified wood product that's 10X the strength of steel.
HempWood is a compressed tensile fiber product that's 20% stronger than Oak dimensional lumber of the same dimensions.
CEB: Compressed Earth Block: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_earth_block